TransHuman: Subarctic Blast
by JB Tarrant
Summary: Two years after the events in Desert Plateau, Riley's family has cut all contact with all things Transformers. Enter Andrea, a young adult trying to live a normal life in a town haunted by a vigilante and a group of Autobots constantly trying to catch her. When a new enemy rises, everything is turned upside down as Andrea is put on a crash course with the world of the Transformers.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Guess who's back?! This is the second installment of the TransHuman series, TransHuman: Operation: Subarctic Blast. For those of you who haven't read TransHuman: Raw Power, it is absolutely necessary you read it first to understand what's going on and for those of you who have read and became fans of the first installment, welcome back!**

**I'd like to take a moment to address Pat Macken's review for the final chapter of Raw Power by saying this: in my head canon for the story, Isaiah's birthday falls in September so he turned eighteen during his last year of high school. Riley's birthday falls in early June so she would be a grade behind him since she was seventeen during the time of Raw Power. Here, Isaiah is a junior in college and Riley is a freshman. From time to time, I'll be adding flashbacks to kind of fill in the gaps I probably left in Raw Power. :) And I would like to know what parts of the last chapter of Raw Power you said you felt were still left wide open. The constructive criticism was helpful to me while Raw Power was still being written. I'd like to know what parts those were so I can either go back to edit the last chapter or expand on it in the new installment. Thanks! :)**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own it.**

* * *

Prologue

The mere sight of the white haired young woman had always given Andrea pause, giving her an unusual and unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. Wherever Andrea goes, the platinum haired woman seems to follow and always runs when Andrea's friends or she try to approach her. The young woman had started shadowing Andrea the day after she got her job at the newspaper two years ago when Andrea was assigned to dig up anything she could on the city's vigilante that surfaced shortly after she and her family moved to Highland Peaks.

And there she was, sitting under a tree some distance away, perking up slightly when the brunette came into her field of view. Andrea watched the woman from out of the corner of her eye with slight apprehension as the woman got up to stand, leaning against the tree, intensely blue eyes watching her movements with interest.

"Andrea? What's wrong?" one of Andrea's friends, Courtney, asked, snapping her out of her temporary daze.

Glancing from the platinum blonde to the redhead beside her before going back to the tree where the woman was, the chocolate haired woman found her white haired counterpart had disappeared yet again. She frowned slightly, reaching up to scratch her head and sighed. "That girl again."

"The one that likes spying on you?"

Andrea nodded. "I don't know what her deal is, but it's kinda creepy."

This time, one of her other friends, Blake, spoke up. "Maybe she's working with a rival paper looking to get the inside scoop on the vigilante. Think about it."

Here, Andrea adopted a thoughtful look, pondering the different scenarios before agreeing the suggestion made sense. "It does make sense, Blake, but she showed up the day after I moved here," she answered, shifting her armload of notebooks and textbooks to get a better grip on them. "But still, I probably know just about as much as the other girl does about the vigilante."

Chris, another girl in the group, let out a sigh, bringing the other teen's attention to her. "What about her little ritual of leaving the weird hieroglyphs on the wall whenever the cops find the bad guys? Do you have anything on that and what it could possibly mean?"

_That's an excellent question_, Andrea thought, her mind tuning out anything but the glyphs left behind at every crime scene. "You know what, guys? I'm going to head off and see what I can get on the glyphs and see if I can decode them. I'll see you at school tomorrow," Andrea said finally, departing from her friends to leave for home.

Turning her steel gaze down to her notebook, Andrea briefly glanced over her notes, more specifically, the picture she had stapled on the page of the vigilante's graffiti. She narrowed her eyes slightly, the glyphs vaguely reminding the chocolate haired young woman of the names of newspapers scrawled along the tops of the pages in barely recognizable lettering. This is how she spent the next several minutes, straining herself to decipher the words as she walked, eventually translating the first section into a simple word: 'metal'.

The feel of someone bumping into Andrea's arm startled her as she looked up to meet a pair of startling blue eyes. "If I were you, I would abandon your attempts to get close to the vigilante... lest you wish for something to befall your family and friends," the platinum blonde spoke cryptically, narrowing her eyes dangerously before continuing on her way.

Andrea stood there for a few moments longer, stunned by the fact the woman spoke before she turned around to chase after the white haired woman. "Hey, wait!" Andrea called out to her, but the woman ignored Andrea as though she never addressed her. Watching the unnamed woman round a corner, the brunette picked up her pace but found her quarry was gone. "Damn it!"

XxXxX

I shook my head, finding myself more and more annoyed by the brunette. "She still won't give up," I groused to myself, watching from my vantage point on the building top to observe as Andrea continued her search for me with no success. "What do I have to do to throw her off?!"

"What are you doing, Riley?"

"Not now, Isaiah. I'm sulking," I muttered, waving away my older sibling as he joined me.

The blonde frowned. "There's time for everything, Frosty. Why don't you just go to her as Metal Frost, give her what she wants and never talk to her again?" he said, taking my arm and pulled me away from the edge. "Saber Streak and I could help you out with that if you want."

"That might work. Showing them the vigilante has two accomplices might ease the work load probably," I replied, crossing my arms as a thoughtful look came onto my face. "But then again, that'll only get more people interested in what I'm doing."

Isaiah shrugged, shoving a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Either way, Saber Streak and I are willing to help you out if things get to be too much."

"How soon can you and Saber Streak get ready to help out?"

"Right now."

I grinned. "Good. There's an old hotel on the outskirts of town that I like hanging out at sometimes. Tell your twin to meet us there and we can probably start working on the latest round of information I've gathered so far."

XxXxX(Gray Stone Hotel—three hours later)XxXxX

Pulling up outside the old structure, I allowed myself a smile at the familiarity of the surrounding area before making my way for the entrance. I stopped just short of the entrance, admiring the Army green and black Peterbilt and deep red pickup truck. "Glad you could make it," I greeted, watching as Isaiah and Saber Streak (now known as Emma to our human friends) climbed out of their respective vehicles to walk with me to the door. "Welcome to the Gray Stone Hotel."

"I have to say it's an improvement over the junkyard," Isaiah said, holding the door open for me and Saber Streak. "How'd you find this place anyways?"

I scowled, turning to face my brother as he closed the door. "Don't dis the junkyard, Isa," I said flatly, leveling the blonde with a pointed look. "I still hang out around there. This is where the vigilante— that's me— works her magic at."

"Hey, at this point, I'm just happy you didn't tell us to meet you there."

I chose instead to ignore the comment, moving past the front desk to press a button hidden beneath one of the panels on the surface. Pivoting on a heel to face my two siblings, I watched in obvious satisfaction as their eyes grew wide in surprise as the walls peeled back to reveal what's behind them.

"Good God, Riley. What is all this?!"

I grinned, beckoning them closer to the massive room hidden behind the panels. "Don't look at me like that. Since we were made to leave the Autobots behind, I've had to have _something_ to keep me from going insane."

Saber Streak made a small noise of delight, wasting no time in looking through my latest projects scattered across the floor. "When do we get to go kick some ass, huh?"

"Don't tell me you're going to help me like _that_," I frowned, waving my hands towards the other girl's clothing. "Hiding defining features about you is key. So far, it's been kinda quiet lately. But having extra pairs of eyes helps more than you know." Striding past Saber Streak to an elevated platform to stand next to a large metal mass, I gave Isaiah a cheeky grin and pulled the tarp hiding it away to reveal my latest creations.

Isaiah said nothing, watching me from where I stood for a moment before asking, "What exactly is it that you're working on? Another Autobot?"

"Two, actually. Why?"

"Don't you think that the Autobots will track you or their signals when you activate them?"

"Nah. The surrounding area is completely dark thanks to an EMP generator. Any tracking devices— human or otherwise— can't get through it," I said, proud of my accomplishments. "I have stuff lying around you might find useful, so pick up whatever catches your eye."

"When will these guys be active?"

"Soon. I just need to finish up a few things and they'll be ready for duty." Turning away to face the open panel on the side of the mech's head, I sighed, taking up a welder to start working. "I already have something in mind for them when they come online."

"Andrea? You're not going to kill her, are you?"

"I'm not going to kill her; I'm merely going to have one of them shadow her to keep tabs on her."

"What is there to gain from spying on the girl, Frosty?" Isaiah asked, moving to lean against a case full of armor. "So far as I can tell, she ain't doing anything wrong."

"For now. But I want to scare her away 'cause if she gets too close, she's going to get hurt."

XxXxX(Later that night...)XxXxX

Isaiah let out a huff, crossing his arms over his armor plated chest and closed his eyes. "When did you say they'd be coming this way, Frosty?" he asked, opening an eye and craned his neck to watch me where I sat on the railing of a fire escape.

Shifting my position to see him, I narrowed my eyes slightly as I scrutinized what little of my brother's face showed through from behind the visor, the rest being hidden behind a battle mask similar to that of Optimus Prime. "Soon. Any moment now, they'll come." No sooner had I said that, the dark haired woman, Jaqueline, I believe her name is, strode past. "Speak of the devil," I mused, pulling my mask on and quietly made my way down the fire escape and grabbed her, covering her mouth before a scream could come out, pulling her back into the alleyway with me. "Do yourself a favor and tell your friends to stay out of my business. Tell Andrea to stay away or she _will_ get hurt."

The woman turned in my grasp to face me, eyes wide in surprise. "You're the—"

"Vigilante. I know," I finished, frowning. "Just pass it along, Jaqueline. You all could be in danger trying to get close to me and my associates."

Jaqueline continued her silence, merely nodding her head in the affirmative. "But if you know her like I do, you'll find she's impossible to deter from something when she sets her mind to it."

"I know. And that's why I'm giving her this," I answered, heaving a sigh in knowing and reached into a pocket to produce a flash drive and placed it in the other woman's hand. "That holds a gigabyte of information I'm sure will satisfy her."

"What kind of information?"

"The kind that we could go to jail for the rest our lives over just having it on the flash drive. Give it to her and all the questions she could possibly have will be answered."

"How did you—?"

"You don't wanna know. Do as I say and get her to back off." With that, I turned to leave, motioning for my siblings to follow. "And by the way— the name's Metal Frost."

XxXxX

The image of the glowing blue eyes of the vigilante was now seemingly burnt into the back of Jaqueline's mind as she left the alleyway and its three occupants behind to enter the building whose wall helped make up the alley; the library. She had stayed quiet for well over twenty minutes when Blake spoke, snapping Jaqueline out of her trance.

"You're real quiet tonight, Jack. Something on your mind?" the dark haired young man asked, watching Jaqueline's face carefully. "What's wrong?"

"The vigilante stopped me before I could come here. She told me to make Andrea to stay away," she answered, looking around suspiciously for prying eyes. "And she wasn't alone."

"Wait— the vigilante _spoke_ to you?! She never talks to bystanders unless she's gonna beat the hell outta you!" Zach interjected, eyes wide in surprise. "What all did she say?"

Jaqueline shrugged helplessly, averting her eyes to check for people eavesdropping on the conversation before pulling the flash drive out of her pocket. "She gave me this." Reaching into her pocket, the dark haired young woman produced a small flash drive. "She said there was stuff on it that could shed light on the incidents in Mission City, Chicago, Desert Plateau, and any other place supposedly ravaged by the aliens."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What was that you said about there being others with her? Did she just get through sinking her claws into someone?" Zach interjected, causing a silence in the group as all eyes turned to Jaqueline expectantly.

She shook her head. "They were wearing uniforms like her. They didn't exactly do or say anything, just standing there watching me."

"You remember what they looked like?"

"There was a guy and a girl. The dude looked like he was jacking Master Chief's style but a different shaped helmet and the girl was wearing a red and white version of the vigilante's usual blue and white."

Blake stayed quiet, observing her face for a long while before asking, "Did she or the other two say anything else?"

"She calls herself Metal Frost."

XxXxX

Wandering through the expansive floor of the building, Andrea let her gaze wander around between the rows of books in search of her friends. "This is ridiculous. Where are they?" she sighed in irritation, keeping up with her search before she found her friends huddled in the back corner of the building where the computers are kept, muttering amongst themselves.

XxXxX

Jaqueline stared, fingering the flash drive in thought. "Should we?"

Blake shrugged. "For all we know, the vigilante is a crazy conspiracy theorist," he said finally, intertwining his fingers behind his neck.

Melanie chose that moment to jump in, saying, "I say do it. There could actually be some truth to what the conspiracy theorists are saying about the attacks. Jack, you realize the vigilante has never before interacted with anybody she wasn't trying to stop from hurting someone else. If she wanted us to look at it, look at it. That simple."

The dark haired young woman moaned a little in anxiety. "If there is something on here that the government didn't want anybody to see, should we look anyway? What if we get in trouble just for having this thing?"

Blake chose to reenter the conversation, taking the flash drive into his hand, stating, "Look, if it makes you uncomfortable, then don't look at it or get rid of it. It's your choice."

XxXxX

Andrea nodded in agreement, having only just walked in on the end of the conversation. "Do it, Jack. I don't know what they're telling you to do, but do it."

The brunette's voice made them jump, Jaqueline spinning around to face Andrea in surprise. "Andrea... the vigilante actually talked to me."

Andrea's eyes widened. "You're joking. She never talks to anybody but the people she's beating the hell out of," she said incredulously, unable to help the feeling of shock that swelled in her chest. "What did she say?"

"She said this had all the answers to the destruction of countless different locations around the globe and the source of conspiracy theories worldwide," Blake answered, holding up the flash drive between his thumb and index finger for the new arrival to see.

"Has anybody looked at it yet?" Andrea inquired, taking the flash drive and, without missing a beat, popped it into a USB port. "No? Let's find out what the lady in blue wanted us to see."

XxXxX(On the outskirts of Highland Peaks...)XxXxX

Observing the quiet town nestled at the base of the mountain range from her lofty perch on a rock formation off a dirt path carved into the side of the mountain, a lone figure leaned back to brace her elbows against the rock beneath her. Azure colored hair swept into her face from the breeze had been shoved aside and a scowl formed on her face, crimson colored eyes narrowing as if insulted. "So _this_ is what my first mission is? Pathetic," she sighed, disdain dripping from her voice at the prospect of going anywhere near the town.

::Is that a complaint I hear? You were sent there for a reason and Lord Megatron expects you to go above and beyond what is necessary to succeed. Would you rather return and I tell him that you felt this important mission was too troubling?:: a voice over the communications network mocked, prompting the scowl to deepen.

::It is not troubling; I said it was a waste of time.:: she retorted.

::This isn't a waste to our leader. So if you like being amongst the living, I suggest you get your job done and return.:: With that, the line went dead, leaving the young woman in silence.

XxXxX(Two years ago— NEST base; Diego Garcia)XxXxX

"Dad?"

The man turned, offering a smile in greeting and pulled me in for a lopsided hug. "What's up, sweetheart?"

"I still can't believe they're making us go through with this. I've sworn allegiance and fought alongside them— hell, I was _tortured_ for them— and they still think I'd be able to sweep something of this magnitude under the rug!" I groaned, frustrated now more than ever that my relationship with Ironhide has finally been smoothed out only for there to be yet another obstacle to be thrown in the way.

"I know, baby. But a place like this is no place for someone so young," Dad sighed, leaning down to plant a kiss on the top of my head. "And I agree with removing us from here. Every time I turn my back, either you or your brother is mortally wounded and on Death's doorstep and I can't allow that to happen again."

The words hold a cryptic edge to them, sending a chill down my spine as mental images of Isaiah hooked to all those machines and fighting for his life to pictures I was shown of my time in the hospital in a coma. Isaiah and I looked so pale— lifeless, even— that we may as well have been dead, the machines being the only thing keeping us alive. Sensing a deplorable change in mood, I change the subject.

"Did they ever tell you where we're being sent?"

"Alpine Trails, Oregon, along with that family you fought to take with us, naturally," he answered, giving my shoulders a light squeeze. "Question is, how are you planning on keeping things going between you and Ironhide? The government clearly doesn't want hormonally charged teenagers running amongst beings that destroyed cities in their battles on Earth."

I frowned, craning my neck to appraise the giant metal bodies suspended by cables against the wall. "Of course they don't. They're jealous because the Autobots chose me over them. And Isaiah was a holy terror in Desert Plateau, makin' it rain on the Decepticons with RPGs and all that good stuff."

"He's just looking out for his sister like your mother and I do for you two—"

"There's three of us now, Dad. Saber Streak's coming with us."

"For you three. It's our job and your brother's God given right to protect his sister like it's my God given right to hate any young buck trying to get his hands on my little girl," Dad returned, an amused gleam coming to his eyes when I snorted.

"You know I could never completely cut ties with them. With the Allspark shard still in my chest, they can track the energy from anywhere."

"I know. And if they come back into our lives, so be it. And the next time around, I'm not letting any of you kids out of my sight again seeing as bad things occur when that happens."

"Only thing is, we'll be ready for them the next go round. Once we're out of here, it's only a matter of time before the Autobots return to our lives again."

* * *

**Author's Note: I think I did rather good with the start off to the story, don't you? Did you think it was good? Bad? Awesome? Or did it suck? Let me know! Constructive criticism is welcome! :)**


	2. The Vigilante's Mark

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the exceedingly long wait (It's been almost a year since I wrote anything for this?!). Real life was demanding I come up for air for a while and work on editing another story I plan to publish as a book, and I'll be publishing under my pen name on FanFiction. :)**

**Enough about me, here's the second installment. :)**

* * *

Chapter Two: The Vigilante's Mark

Andrea couldn't believe it. The very thing burning in her mind tonight had been witnessed by not only herself but her friends several hours ago in the library. The mental images of the emblems and pictures from the different battles, each of them seemingly branded to the insides of her eyelids. She had been lying there in bed for what felt like a few minutes when in reality, it had been hours, keeping her awake to brood over it. Inhaling deeply through her nose, Andrea shut her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep only to fail. Turning her head to the iPod charging station on her nightstand, scrutinizing the digital clock on its base. 1:47 a.m.

She blinked twice.

1:48.

_I hate you_. The brunette scowled, pushing herself into a seated position before getting out of bed and wandered to her desk on the far side of the room. For a few moments, Andrea contemplated chucking the timepiece out the window in her frustration. Sinking into the chair at her desk, Andrea turned on the small light to look over the notes she had made for her job.

"Why is this happening to me?" Andrea moaned, running a hand through her bed mussed hair. Watching her notes carefully, the brunette took up a picture from one of the crime scenes the vigilante, Metal Frost, as Jaqueline called her, tagged. This particular photo was one she had taken herself, blurry from the movement of not only herself but also the figure towards the upper right hand corner. Only a portion of the blue and white figure made it into the shot, half of her hidden behind the building she was running around.

"Andrea? What are you doing up?"

The young woman jumped and spun around in her seat to face Jess standing in the doorway. "You scared me!" she sighed, scowling when her brother came to sit on the edge of the desk beside her. "What are you doing?"

"I asked first. Something on your mind?" Jess returned, tilting his head to the side to appraise the pictures scattered across the desk. "This again?"

"It shouldn't be this surprising I'm working on anything at this hour. I'll have you know it's not work that keeping me up this time," Andrea replied, yawning loudly and rubbed at her eyes tiredly. "It's really gotten me thinking and... something about it just feels really weird. Like déjà vu."

The older brunette remained silent, gesturing for her to continue.

"Jackie was approached by the vigilante earlier tonight and... things happened. It stuck with me and I couldn't sleep."

The older boy made a puzzled expression, reaching up to scratch his head. "What 'things', Andy? You can tell me," he said encouragingly, concern showing on his face as the possibilities seemed to go through his head.

"... The attack in Desert Plateau."

The look on Jess' face softened and let out a soft noise in sympathy. "You want to talk about it? I know stuff like that hits you pretty hard," he said, reaching over to rest his hand on Andrea's forearm. "Tell me about it. Don't keep it bottled up. That only makes things worse."

The young woman shook her head. "It's not only that. Metal Frost gave Jaqueline a flash drive... and the stuff I saw on it... there was eyewitness accounts of the attack, Jess. There was enough to write articles on every attack to date!" she answered, getting up to head for the basket of dirty clothes to retrieve the storage device out of her pants pocket. "See for yourself."

Jess frowned. "Who gave you this again? Are you even sure of the sources? For all you know, it's made up."

"No way. The sources on the drive had links to the sites she got the information off of and they're all respectable newspapers and other businesses. It's legit," she replied, taking up one of the papers to look it over briefly before putting it back. "I can't tell you how many people I had to track down on the Internet just so I could talk to them to see what they knew about the incidents in the different reports."

The older boy shook his head, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You realize what this is and where it's going, Andy? This has gone from endearing eccentricity to creepily not okay. Okay? You can't cyber stalk people like that unless you wanna get in trouble."

"It's not anything drastic. I just send them messages over social media and see if their stories adds up to what they said in the reports. Harmless investigation work," she defended with a huff, scowling when Jess reached across the desk to take her camera.

Looking through the recently taken pictures, Jess paused at the one of the platinum blonde, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Who is this?" he asked, turning the camera to show the image on the screen. "This the girl you said likes following you?"

She nodded. "I don't think she even realized I took that picture. She was too far away for my camera to have a clear shot of her face. I think she was probably two blocks away. Always looking like she's waiting for me to do something."

"Like what?" Jess asked, returning his gaze to the screen. "It's not like you have the location of Area Fifty-one."

Andrea shut her eyes and heaved a sigh in frustration. "This is probably the worst time to get insomnia. Especially when Mr. Nolan is expecting my story on his desk in the morning and I feel like the story is even worth publishing," she groaned, getting up to leave the room.

"Where are you going, Andy?"

"I need something to eat," she muttered, stifling a yawn. "Maybe that will help me get something done, God forbid it doesn't help. If it doesn't, I'll be forced to reevaluate my life decisions and weep silently over a gallon carton of chocolate ice cream."

Andrea's sibling snorted. "Wow. Is that seriously what you'd be reduced to? I'm surprised," he said humorously, following her to the kitchen downstairs.

"Trust me, you don't want me pushed to that point. Okay? Just pray I can either get something to write about from those reports or I can think up something else to put on Mr. Nolan's desk in the morning," she said, opening the refrigerator to rummage through its contents. "So what were you doing up in the first place anyways?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. Same as you. I was going to watch some TV and I saw the light on in your room."

Returning to the table with a couple containers and spoons, Andrea set them down and handed him a spoon. "I hear you. Insomnia's a bitch, ain't it?"

Jess chuckled, opening the container to start eating. "I'll drink to that."

**XxXxX(That morning...)XxXxX**

_The fall of Crime and the Rise of Vigilantism_

_The New Wave of Crime Fighting Groups in Highland Peaks_

_Andrea McClain_

_As of 2014, crime rates were high and robberies and break-ins were a commonality. But in the past two years since the vigilante, whom identifies herself as Metal Frost, had surfaced, the city has seen a drastic decrease. In saying this, from early 2014 to now and a look at the encouraging numbers, Metal Frost as gone and inspired a wave of vigilantism._

_I had managed to catch up with one such vigilante earlier in the week, asking his reasoning behind following in the vigilante's footsteps. He agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity, though he requested to be called "Crusader"._

_"It's a movement," he explains, "When you see all the good the vigilante— Metal Frost— all the good she's brought about and how safe the streets are, it's inspiring. You just want to find her and work with her to make the streets safer." Crusader, 43 and father of three, is a member of one of the latest crime fighting groups known as Strike Force._

_When asked if he thought Metal Frost would accept Crusader's help, he replied, "She don't seem like the type. I've seen her in action once and watched her take out seven guys at once. It was insane."_

_Another vigilante I caught up with— who asked to be referred to as Phantom— readily agreed to the interview. When asked of his knowledge of Metal Frost and her work around the city, he answered, "She saved my life. After that, I figured it was a calling to help people like she helped me. You know?" Phantom, 17, is a local teen and member of the Strike Force vigilante team._

_While Metal Frost doesn't belong to any known groups nor have any partners, locals have noticed an increase of technological interferences in the city and the surrounding area whenever she comes around. It seems these giant robots, for whatever reason, tend to follow her as though they're watching her. The equipment Metal Frost was reported to have used are of an unknown make and model, custom made for her use. I would go so far as to speculate these metal beings are the ones to have made the weapons for her._

_During her time running the streets, Metal Frost's impact on Highland Peaks has been nothing but positive. That in turn has made the city safer and we're all the better for it._

Reading the words over for the tenth time in the past five minutes, I couldn't help the frown that no doubt showed up on my face. What I had read wasn't what I was expecting at all, having more than half a mind to find some kind of information she had come across. Instead of information regarding the battles that took place in Mission City or Desert Plateau, I find her pointing out my apparent tail, courtesy of the Autobots.

"What's that look for? You look like the paper said something to offend you," Brian's voice chimed, jerking me back from my thoughts.

"It's just Andrea. Her piece today isn't what I expected, that's all," I said, cutting the article out and stuffed the paper in my pocket. "It's either me, or it read as a long thank you note to me."

Brian scooted closer, leaning over to snatch the paper out of my pocket. "I see what you mean. She probably meant for it to be like that. Think about it."

"Maybe, but I still need her to back off from me. This is going to get her killed if she isn't careful," I scowled, taking the page back and putting it back in my pocket. "Look, kiddo, Megatron still ain't too happy with me managing to get three of his deadliest soldiers to desert the cause. He may decide to send some of his boys to target anybody close to me or trying to get close to me and I don't want her in the crosshairs. What would come of that would be devastating to her."

"Why don't you just talk to her and explain the situation like a normal person?" Brian inquired, raising an eyebrow at me inquisitively. "I don't understand it."

Leaning back in my seat, I wiped the sweat off my forehead as I regarded the teen. "Look at it this way, being at a distance, I'm able to watch her and keep her out of trouble. And when I get these guys activated, they'll help keep an eye on Andrea and her family."

Brian frowned, sitting closer to me to watch me work for a moment before making me stop again. "Won't that make it worse? I mean, you were supposed to stay away, but you came back to offer protection."

"I know where you're going, Crossfire, but the reasoning behind staying away from Andrea and your family is a different set of circumstances," I replied, glancing over at the younger boy. "I put you and your family under my care to protect you from the Decepticons. Andrea is a budding reporter that's trying to bite off more than she can chew, pursuing big stories such as mine. In doing that will no doubt attract attention where it will force my hand sometime in the future, making an appearance from me necessary and putting her family under my care or someone else's."

He nodded, seeming to understand. "So what are you going to do with these guys? Letting them run around the city will attract attention like you wouldn't believe," he asked, changing the subject.

"Which is why they're programmed to break apart to form smaller drones," I supplied for him, taking up a spray can and passed it to Brian. "I'll leave you with the task of naming this guy. Make sure to stay on the flat surfaces," I instructed, patting his back as I got up to work on another project for a while.

**XxXxX(Colorado)XxXxX**

"Brother, wake up. There's been a disturbance in North Dakota."

Drone Strike growled, turning over on his other side, determined to ignore Thundershaker as the larger mech continued to rouse him. "Leave me be, damn it!" he roared, disturbing the birds in the trees. "What is so important you need to wake me?!"

Thundershaker wasn't fazed by his younger sibling's shout, instead frowning in mild confusion. "There's been a change of atmosphere in Vermont. I've recently heard there was a new Decepticon being deployed to Highland Peaks, Vermont. It's the location the young femme who bested us spends her time."

Drone Strike sat up, all traces of sleep gone, replaced by a look of intrigue. "What of the femme? Are you looking to go after her?"

Terra Rage shook his head. "There was a new and unidentified Decepticon femme dispatched to the area. What's intriguing about it is she's mimicking the same radiation as the femme Autobot."

"So what do you want to do about it?"

"We head for Vermont for reconnaissance on the femme Decepticon. If I feel it necessary, we make our presence known to Metal Frost. That's all for now. We have a long distance to travel. Best start now."

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**Author's Note: Sorry it's so short, guys, but I was itching to post it. :P The next chapter will probably be longer. Reviews prompt me to write more and get chapters done faster! :D**


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